what's for dinner?

december 2000

As the holidays near, everyone we know gets into a frenzy with baking for the season. The aromas wafting from the warm kitchen stirs happy memories in all of us. Just because one has diabetes doesn't mean that they can't enjoy the breads, cakes, cookies, and pies of the season. People with diabetes can participate, provided they are in good control of their blood glucose levels and they understand how to include the items in their meal plan. Fortunately, the newest one-to-one types of sugar substitutes hold up well with the heat of baking, making them ideal for use in these recipes where we wanted to keep the amount of granulated sugar low. Unfortunately, however, these sugar substitutes can have effects on you and your digestive system. Alter trying and failing and then succeeding with these recipes, we had reactions to all of the tasting and wound up freezing the results so that we can eat them a little at a time to cut back on calories, the upset stomach, GI symptoms, etc. The results were better than we would have had using the older sweeteners, and if you are making and eating only one at a time, you should do just fine. This festive dessert is so pretty, yet quite easy to make. Decorate the torte with fresh strawberries or colorful, edible flowers such as pansies, nasturtiums, scented geraniums, or violets. Mexican Chocolate Torte The following two recipes come from a friend who says she got the recipes from a friend of hers who thinks the recipes might have come from Weight Watchers. It took a lot of changes to make the recipes safe for diabetics, but the results are very good. Both make the whole house smell of holiday spices as they're baking. The end results are good enough to use some of your calories for at this time of year or any time, for that matter. Crustless Pumpkin Pie Pumpkin Cookie Bars Serve these beauties Christmas morning. If you wish, you could substitute fresh blueberries or raspberries for the cranberries. Cranberry Muffins You'll love these festive cookies, chock full of fruits and nuts. We used cake flour in the recipe to give them a more tender texture. Don't try to substitute all-purpose flour as it absorbs more liquid than cake flour, making the cookies drier. Christmas Fruit Squares The dietitians at Harvard University's Joslin Diabetes Center who do the nutritional analysis for our many diabetic cookbooks first introduced us to dried cranberries that have no-sugar-added. Whenever we're visiting Massachusetts, the "cranberry state," we stock up on them for use during the holidays. You can also use dried no-sugar-added cherries which are easier to find most everywhere. We love these scones, especially early on Christmas morning as we're opening presents. We keep unsalted butter in the freezer for when using margarine just won't due. Unfortunately, sugar is needed for a light texture. Using a sugar substitute will give you scones resembling hockey pucks. Holiday Scones Have a bread machine or hope to get one for Christmas? This luscious loaf is a good choice for breakfast. Its enticing aroma will lure sleepyheads out of bed. Dry buttermilk is available at most supermarkets and makes it possible to bake this bread on the delayed cycle. Don't use the delayed cycle if you're using fresh buttermilk. Dry buttermilk is available is most supermarkets. If yours doesn't carry it, e-mail us and we'll send you a mail-order address or 800-number for ordering. Cinnamon Currant Toasting Bread (1 pound loaf) Cinnamon Currant Toasting Bread (1 1/2-pound loaf) Cakes are an important part of holiday entertaining. This recipe only makes 1 layer, but you could double it and bake it in two round layers. It is a not too sweet cake made with unsweetened chocolate. The second is a festive carrot cake which can be served unfrosted or topped with frozen whipped fat-free, sugar-free topping which has been thawed. The people at Splenda® suggest adding nonfat dry milk powder and baking soda when baking a cake to lighten the texture-1/2 cup (70 g) dry milk powder and 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) baking soda for every cup (160 g) of Splenda®. Sour Cream Chocolate Cake Easy Carrot Cake (for the recipes, click on The Recipes or click on the individual recipe above)